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ULTRAFILTRATION APPLICATIONS IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY
by Tom A. Grizzlea

INTRODUCTION troublesome as they typically cost more than $1.00 per

pound and their effluents are difficult to treat. Ultra-
Ultrafiltration is a relatively low pressure mem- filtration offers an economical alternative to this
brane separation process through which an effluent expensive and wasteful practice.
stream is separated into two fractions - a concentrate The desize effluent can b e separated into two
fraction containing t h e bulk of macromolecules and recyclable streams. The concentrate stream contains
suspended solids and a more dilute or permeate frac- t h e size, oils, and waxes which can b e reapplied to
tion. Capable of removing materials down to approx- warp yarns. The permeate stream consists essentially
imately 20 angstroms, ultrafilters are able to concen- of hot water and detergent which can be returned to
trate oils, waxes, latex, polymers, and certain dyestuffs the washer. Waste treatment is virtually eliminated
such as indigo from textile wastewaters. Caustic salts, and substantial chemical, water, and energy savings
and detergents generally pass through the membrane. are realized.
For s o m e applications the objective of ultrafiltra- Caston County has installed eight such systems rec-
tion may be nothing more than volume reduction for ycling millions of pounds of size annually. PVA recov-
subsequent waste treatment. In others, however, the e r y installations require n o further treatment beyond
objective is to recycle t h e concentrate fraction and/or ultrafiltration. The concentrate includes both PVA
the permeate fraction. From a financial standpoint, and wax and may be used “as is” or in blends with
the recycle of either fraction not only reduces waste virgin size. Eastman WD size recovery installations
treatment costs, but often generates a significant typically require further separation via centrifuge to
return o n investment through reduced chemical remove excess waxes. Weaving efficiencies with
costs. recycled size equal that with virgin size. Both labor
and energy savings are realized as compared to t h e
WARP SIZE RECOVERY “cooking” and bath preparation steps required for
O n e such textile application is warp size recovery. virgin size. 4
The ever increasing production of synthetic fabrics
and blends o n high speed weaving machines requires MEMBRANE PERFORMANCE
the warp (lengthwise) yarns to possess high strength Size recovery applications require t h e utilization of
and abrasion resistance to reduce yarn breaks and membranes which are tolerant of lint and particulate
loom stops. Lubricity is also desired to reduce wear of matter, with wide pH ranges, and temperatures near
loom parts. 1oooc.
Toward this end, textile manufacturers apply syn- Gaston County selected a 6 mm I.D. porous carbon
thetic sizing agents and waxes to the warp yarns in a support tube to which an inert and inorganic mem-
slasher prior t o weaving. Warp yarns are first dipped brane is applied. Approximately 1000 tubes a r e
into hot solutions of sizing materials such as PVA, assembled in a shell and tube configuration referred
CMC, o r WD. Add-on is controlled by regulating t o as a module. Two modules are combined with 6
squeeze roll pressure, yarn speed, and size concen- recirculation p u m p to form what is known as a LOOP.
tration. The yarns are then dried and forwarded to (Figure 1).
weaving. The fabric must then b e washed to remove The de-size effluent is circulated through the inside
the size prior to further finishing. of t h e tubes. Water and detergent permeate the
While clearly jsutified by improved product quality membrane to t h e shell-side of the module leaving a
and weaving efficiency, size use is both expensive and more concentrated size solution in t h e loop.

3.
 membrane, fouling, and boundary layer filter cake or
gel formation. Resistance of the tube and membrane
are fixed by their selection. Fouling resistance gradu-
ally increases with time as iron, calcium, size or wax
accumulates on the membrane. Periodic cleaning
every 3 to 6 months is recommended using caustic
PERMEATE soda, peroxide, and sometimes mild acid. The filter
cake or gel layer resistance i s determined by the
materials being recovered, their concentration, and
the circulation rate through the tubes. Resistance i s
reduced and flux rate enhanced by lower viscosity,
CONCENTRATE
lower concentration, higher temperature,and higher
circulation rate. Minimum filter cake resistance is
FEED achieved in the loops by operation at approximately
100°C with a circulation rate of 1400 GPM.
Figure 1. Typical membrane configuration for ultrafil-
tration. RECOVERY A N D YIELD

The mode of filtration embodied i s known as cross- Approximately 96% of the size in the effluent is
flow filtration in which the effluent is circulated recovered by the ultrafilter. However, when one
across or parallel to the membrane surface. Com- combines other losses such as loom shedding, de-size
pared to the more common through-flow filtration in washer ineffiency, etc. with the 96% recovery effi-
which an ever increasing layer of filtered material ciency, net recovery or yield is reduced to approxi-
builds up on the surface requiring frequent cleaning mately 80% to 85%.
or replacement, cross-flow filters tend to be self-
cleaning as subsequent flows reduce the accumula- CONTROL MODES
tion. The two major control modes are the batch and
The rate at which water and low molecular weight continous modes. Selection of the best control mode
species permeate the membrane i s known as the flux depends upon the flux curve and system size. In the
rate and i s normally expressed in gallons per square true batch control mode, permeate i s continuously
foot of surface area per day (CFD).Analagos to a D.C. removed while the loop concentrate is returned to
electric circuit in which the current i s proportional to the feed tank. This control mode yields the highest
the potential divided by the resistance, the permeate average flux and provides maximum benefit for small
rate is similarly related to the pressure drop across the systems with sharply declining flux curves. The disad-
membrane divided by the sum total of resistances to vantage is that multiple feed tanks are needed to
flow (Figure 2). reduce down time between cycles as one tank i s dis-
Permeate flux usually increases linearly with in- charged and refilled.
creasing potential or available pressure drop. Gaston In the continuous control mode, the concentration
County loops are ASME code designed for 150 psig level(s) in the loop(s) remains constant with time.
operation. Permeate is continuously withdrawn as in batch con-
Resistanceto flux is offered by the carbon tube, the trol. However, only concentrate at the desired final
concentrate i s allowed to discharge. The average
R R R R permeate flux is below that of batch control. How-
‘
I Y Y v ever, this deficiency is minimal in multi-loop installa-
TUBE MEMBRANE FOULING FILTER tions and is justified by elimination of multiple feed
CAKE
tanks.

PYA RECOVERY

I CURRENT
c-- Now to take a closer look at a specific example. Let’s
assume a textile manufacturer annually applies ap-
PERMEATE DIFFERENTIAL proximately 2.5 million pounds of Dupont T-66PVA in
PRESSURE
a 10% solution to polyester/cotton warp yarns. The
woven fabric is de-sized in a three shift, 5 day per
Figure 2. Permeate rate depends upon the sum of the week operation yielding an average effluent of 60
resistance to flow. GPM a t 1 8 O O F and containing 1.2% PVA by weight.

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 FLOW
INTEGRATW RECORDER
AN0 TOTALIZER

CONCENTRATION

-
Figure 3. Desize effluent is treated to remove lint, etc., FINAL
and stored in a high volume buffer tank. CONCENTRATE

With a n approximate cost of $l.Oo/lb. of PVA, it is FINAL LOOP SYSTEM

realized that this “wastewater” is worth 10 cents per
REPRESENTATIVE SPMRE
gallon and that a n ultrafiltration system would rec- OF FINAL CONCENTRATE

over 2 million pounds of PVA annually.

A 12 loop ultrafiltration system is proposed. The
Figure 5. A central control panel provides all switches and
desize effluent is collected at t h e washers and trans- controls functions.
ferred to a 100 and 150 mesh vibrating screen prefilter
for removal of lint and other large particulate matter. back-up control for t h e refractometer. Concentra-
The effluent is then transferred to a volume buffer tion level is indicated and recorded. Concentrate
tank with a 4-8 hour holding capacity to allow inde- flow is indicated, recorded, and totalized for system
pendent operation of t h e washers and t h e ultrafiltra- monitoring, efficiency reports, and inventory control.
tion system. (Figure 3). A 25,000 gallon tank is selected A central control panel provides all switches and con-
and provided with a direct steam injection sparger to trol functions required for the system (Figure 5).
maintain t h e 1 6 O O F temperature needed to prevent From t h e heated storage tank t h e concentrate is
bacterial growth. The effluent is overfed to t h e system pumped either directly into the slasher room o r to a
a t constant pressure via a pressurization and bypass tank truck for delivery to remote griege mills (Figure
control valve. (Figure 4). 6). Automatic batch delivery controls can be provided.
‘’3 The twelve loops would b e arranged in two parallel
six stage systems. The concentration of t h e final stage ECONOMICS
is monitored by a refractometer which prohibits the
discharge of cencentrate until t h e desired 10% level Principal equipment costs include t h e effluent
required for slashing is achieved. The effluent is transfer system loops, automatic controls,and miscel-
stage-wise concentrated such that t h e concentration laneous valves and components. The cost of these
in each successive stage is higher than in t h e previous items is estimated at $850,000. Installed costs can vary
stage. The average loop concentration is therefore widely depending upon whether or not a n e w build-
considerably less than the 10%product level required ing must be constructed to house t h e system and t h e
and t h e capacity is markedly higher than if a single number of griege mill reuse locations. The cost of
stage system had been designed.
Approximately 7 GPM of 10% PVA concentrate
would be discharged t o a concentrate storage tank.
An output flowmeter and controller are provided as

To
--4FLomETE R SIZE
KETTLE

TEMpERINclE
cm? L

I L-Lf
W
UFa
TANK

Figure 4. Effluent is overfed at constant pressure via a Figure 6. Concentrate is pumped either directly to the
pressurization and bypass control valve. slasher room or a tank truck for remote delivery.

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storage tanks and installatiomis estimated at-!%% of installed-7 years ago are stiH in operation with the
the above for an installed cost of $1,275,000. This original tubes and membranes. The simple operating.
installed cost correlates to an investment of $0.64 per expense in this example totals up to $0.12 per dry
pound of PVA recovered annually. pound of PVA recovered.
Operating costs consist primarily of electrical power, The principal savings from the system is realized
labor, maintenance, transportation, and membrane from the PVA itself worth $1.00 per pound. Using this
replacement costs. The ultrafiltration system itself $1.00 per pound worth and the $0.12 recovery cost
requires approximately 3/4 kwh per dry pound of yields a net savings of $0.88/pound. Ignoring taxes
PVA recovered. Transfer pumps, concentrate storage and cash flow analyses, the savings of $0.88/pound
tank pumps, etc. will boost the total requirement to will return the investment of $0.64/pound in 9 months.
approximately 1 kwhlpound for a cost of $0.04/ Other savings not included in the above analysis
pound. include:
A full-time technician/operator i s not required as
0 Reduced cooking/slashing expense
automatic controls are provided. Operators are nor-
0 Reduced waste treatment cost
mally assigned additionaJ duties, however, such as
Value of recycled permeate water and energy
quality control, scheduling on shipments, and inven-
tory control. Labor costs are estimated at $0.031 The return on investment will vary with system size,
pound of PVA using 6,000 hours/year at $10.00/ hour. warp size used, and other factors listed above. How-
ever, simple returns of less than l 112 years are
MAINTENANCE COSTS ARE ESTIMATED AT common.
$O.Ol/pound of PVA. We at Gaston County believe that warp size recov-
ery is a n excellent example of technology reducing
Transportation costs vary with the number of greige
our pollution problems while generating a profit
mill reuse locations and the distances involved. Using
rather than additional expense.
4500 gallons per load, a 100 mile round trip, and a
$1.50/mile cost of operating a tanker, the transporta-
tion cost i s estimated $0.04/pound of PVA. aCaston County Dye Machine Co., Stanley, NC 28164
Membrane replacement costs are negligible. Loops

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